A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Middle Jurassic of Sardinia (Italy) based on integrated palaeobotanical, palynological and lithofacies data assessment

During the Jurassic, Sardinia was close to continental Europe. Emerged lands started from a single island forming in time a progressively sinking archipelago. This complex palaeogeographic situation gave origin to a diverse landscape with a variety of habitats. Collection- and literature-based palaeobotanical, palynological and lithofacies studies were carried out on the Genna Selole Formation for palaeoenvironmental interpretations. They evidence a generally warm and humid climate, affected occasionally by drier periods. Several distinct ecosystems can be discerned in this climate, including alluvial fans with braided streams (Laconi-Gadoni lithofacies), paralic swamps and coasts (Nurri-Escalaplano lithofacies), and lagoons and shallow marine environments (Ussassai-Perdasdefogu lithofacies). The non-marine environments were covered by extensive lowland and a reduced coastal and tidally influenced environment. Both the river and the upland/hinterland environments are of limited impact for the reconstruction. The difference between the composition of the palynological and palaeobotanical associations evidence the discrepancies obtained using only one of those proxies. The macroremains reflect the local palaeoenvironments better, although subjected to a transport bias (e.g. missing upland elements and delicate organs), whereas the palynomorphs permit to reconstruct the regional palaeoclimate. Considering that the flora of Sardinia is the southernmost of all Middle Jurassic European floras, this multidisciplinary study increases our understanding of the terrestrial environments during that period of time

The diversity of Australian Mesozoic bennettitopsid reproductive organs

Several dispersed reproductive organs of bennettitopsid gymnosperms are described and illustrated from Triassic to Cretaceous strata of Australia: Williamsonia eskensis sp. nov. (Middle Triassic), Williamsonia ipsvicensis sp. nov. (Upper Triassic), Williamsonia durikaiensis sp. nov. (Lower Jurassic), Williamsonia sp. (Lower Jurassic), Williamsonia rugosa sp. nov. (Middle Jurassic), Williamsonia gracilis sp. nov. (Lower Cretaceous), Cycadolepis ferrugineus sp. nov. (Lower Jurassic), Cycadolepis sp. (Lower Cretaceous), and Fredlindia moretonensis Shirley 1898 comb. nov. (Upper Triassic). Among these, W. eskensis appears to represent the oldest bennettitalean reproductive structure yet identified. Although global floras expressed less provincialism during the Mesozoic and many genera are cosmopolitan, Australian bennettopsid species appear to have been endemic based on the morphological characters of the reproductive structures. Bennettopsids have a stratigraphic range of around 210 million years in Australia and are widely and abundantly represented by leaf fossils, but only around 20 specimens of reproductive structures, of which half are attributed to Fredlindia, have been recovered from that continent’s geological archive. The extremely low representation of reproductive organs vis-à-vis foliage is interpreted to reflect a combination of physical disintegration of the seed-bearing units while attached to the host axis and, potentially, extensive vegetative reproduction in bennettopsids growing at high southern latitudes during the Mesozoic.Other funding from:National Science Foundation (project #1636625)German Research Council (DFG KR2125/3)Friends of the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Riksmusei Vänner, Stockholm)SYNTHESYS (AT-TAF 467)</p

Sommerxylon spiralosus from Upper Triassic in southernmost Paraná Basin (Brazil): a new taxon with taxacean affinity

The anatoical description of silici?ed Gymnospermae woods from Upper Triassic sequences of southernmost Paraná Basin (Brazil) has allowed the identi?cation of a new taxon: Sommerxylon spiralosus n.gen. et n.sp. Diagnostic parameters, such as heterocellular medulla composed of parenchymatous and sclerenchymatous cells, primary xylem endarch, secondary xylem with dominant uniseriate bordered pits, spiral thickenings in the radial walls of tracheids, medullar rays homocellular, absence of resiniferous canals and axial parenchyma, indicate its relationship with the family Taxaceae, reporting on the first recognition of this group in the Triassic on Southern Pangea. This evidence supports the hypothesis that the Taxaceae at the Mesozoic were not con?ned to the Northern Hemisphere.<br>A descrição anatômica de lenhos silicificados de Gymnospermae em seqüência do Triássico Superior no sul da Bacia do Paraná (Brasil), possibilitou a identificação de um novo taxon: Sommerxylon spiralosus n.gen. et n.sp. Parâmetros diagnósticos tais como medula heterocelular, composta por células parenquimáticas e esclerenquimáticas, xilema primário endarco, xilema secundário com pontoações areoladas unisseriadas dominantes, espessamentos espiralados nas paredes radiais dos traqueídeos, raios lenhosos homocelulares, ausência de canais resiníferos e de parênquima axial, indicam a sua vinculação à família Taxaceae, constituindo-se em reconhecimento inédito da presença deste grupo no Triássico Superior no sul do Pangea. Esta evidência suporta a hipótese de que a família Taxaceae não estava confinada ao Hemisfério Norte durante o Mesozóico

Pharmacologically Induced Hypogonadism and Sexual Function in Healthy Young Women and Men

Studies fail to find uniform effects of age-related or induced hypogonadism on human sexual function. We examined the effects of induced hypogonadism on sexual function in healthy men and women and attempted to identify predictors of the sexual response to induced hypogonadism or hormone addback. The study design used was a double-blind, controlled, crossover (self-as-own control). The study setting was an ambulatory care clinic in a research hospital, and the participants were 20 men (average ± SD age = 28.5 ± 6.2 years) and 20 women (average ± SD age = 33.5 ± 8.7 years), all healthy and with no history of psychiatric illness. A multidimensional scale assessing several domains of sexual function was the main outcome measure. Participants of the study received depot leuprolide acetate (Lupron) every 4 weeks for 3 months (men) or 5 months (women). After the first month of Lupron alone, men received (in addition to Lupron) testosterone enanthate (200 mg intramuscularly) or placebo every 2 weeks for 1 month each. Women received Lupron alone for 2 months, and then, in addition to Lupron, they received estradiol and progesterone for 5 weeks each. The results of the study: in women, hypogonadism resulted in a significant decrease in global measures of sexual functioning, principally reflecting a significant decrease in the reported quality of orgasm. In men, hypogonadism resulted in significant reductions in all measured domains of sexual function. Testosterone restored sexual functioning scores in men to those seen at baseline, whereas neither estradiol nor progesterone significantly improved the reduced sexual functioning associated with hypogonadism in women. Induced hypogonadism decreased sexual function in a similar number of men and women. No predictors of response were identified except for levels of sexual function at baseline. In conclusion, our data do not support a simple deficiency model for the role of gonadal steroids in human sexual function; moreover, while variable, the role of testosterone in sexual function in men is more apparent than that of estradiol or progesterone in women